Things have been busy over at Cirque’s Internet division. The “Ka” website has opened up (accessible off the main Cirque Club page) with photos, videos, even musical samples! Cirque claims it to be “highly interactive” so one should look through it with a keen eye. Some have complained that the site is slow to load up, we suspect that might have been because of heavy initial usage, though the images are Flash-heavy. You can also find an article announcing the forthcoming show in the Press Release section.
In addition Cirque had fan contests to attend record release parties for their new CD compilation “Le Best Of” in Montreal and New York, though the deadlines for entering have passed – sorry. And not mentioned in Cirque Club proper, Cirque is again offering tours of its facilities September 25-26, this time along with the entire Tohu/National Circus School complex, as part of “Les Journées de la culture”.
But the highest compliments this month go to Cirque for its revamping of their Boutique. And it’s a complete transformation, from formatting to the way products are organized. Many new products are available, including show posters, collectibles and other memorabilia, even merchandise from “KÃ “. We’d like to see a “coming soon” section where you might be able to pre-order soon-to-be-released merchandise (such as the Fire Within and La Nouba DVD’s or the 20th Anniversary book in English). We’d also like to see a revamping of the draconian shipping charges, based on dollar value of the order rather than true weight. We’d end up paying $20 dollars in shipping for the lovely-but-light $195 Varekai Structure Necklace, yet the considerably heavier $35 “O” book would only cost us $7 in shipping. Go figure.
If you had the old Boutique in your Internet Favorites you might want to go to the Cirque site and copy in the new page. The old pages are still up and don’t re-direct.
In Cirque marketing messages:
Karina, Varekai crew member wrote of leaving Boston: “After tear down in Boston, and saying goodbye once again to one of my favourite cities in the States, we headed by car to Washington, D.C. After a nine-hour drive on a short night of sleep, it was time to raise the Grand Chapiteau once again! Because of serious weather conditions – specifically Hurricane Frances, which struck Virginia, less than an hour and a half away – the big top raising was delayed. It’s a little intimidating to realize how much our lives on tour depend on the weather. It may be a trivial subject for some, but for us, it dictates how and if operations will run smoothly.
The day started cloudy and we thought we might be lucky enough to escape the rain for the raising. Despite a tornado watch for the Washington, D.C. area the crew charged full steam ahead, and as luck would have it, despite a little bit of rain every half hour or so our tent crew managed to raise the Grand Chapiteau successfully and safely. Thankfully we were spared the winds and dangerous conditions of a tornado.
I know I may be repeating myself, but even after two and a half years on tour raising the Grand Chapiteau amazes me. Seeing how we pull together as a team to make everything happen reminds me how very lucky I am to be able to work on tour.”
Above text courtesy of Cirque Club.
